Former wheelchair user creates open source wheelchair

About the solution

Janna was inspired by the frustrations he felt himself when he was in a wheelchair for a few months, recovering from an accident. Additionally, the designer was also driven to create this device due to Letu, a Samburu man disabled by poliomyelitis he met when he was a child. This man, disabled since birth, lives an isolated, traditional lifestyle with his family in the wilderness. He has no access to health care, which means he had to crawl and be carried by others, having no autonomy.

So Janna designed this wheelchair, gathered a team, Uji, to build it, and returned to Kenya in 2015 to make it happen.

Janna’s project aims to enable developing community countries to help themselves, by providing them with an open source toolkit, making them more independent.

SafariSeat works by climbing over rough ground. The wheelchair has a patented system that replicates car suspension, which ensures that all the wheels remain on the ground, giving the user maximum stability.

The designer launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in order to get funding to create as many chairs as possible and make the open source manual available to anyone.

This solution shall not include mention to the use of drugs, chemicals or biologicals (including food); invasive devices; offensive, commercial or inherently dangerous content. This solution was not medically validated. Proceed with caution! If you have any doubts, please consult with a health professional.

About the author

Janna Deeble was born in UK and grew up in Kenya. He designed SafariSeat, an open source all-terrain wheelchair conceived for people in developing countries.